Suggested Activities Before Your Outreach/Discovery Lesson:

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1 A Teacher s Guide to Everybody Needs a Home Outreach & Animal Habitats Discovery Lesson Grades Pre-K -2 Description Food, water, shelter, and space- all creatures need a habitat that provides these things. Meet several animals from the different habitats and discover how these needs are met. Also explore how animals depend upon and relate to one another within a habitat. Outcomes Students will understand that all animals need food, a source of water, a safe shelter, and space in which to live in their habitats. Students will examine several different habitats and will recognize that animals need the same things humans do to live in their habitats. Suggested Activities Before Your Outreach/Discovery Lesson: Vocabulary habitat shelter survive adaptation space Create a K-W-L chart about habitats and fill in what the students already know about animals homes and what they want to know. Leave the What We Learned column blank and have students fill in new information after the outreach. Discuss the word habitat. Ask the students to draw a picture of their home. What types of things did they include? Now, ask them to draw an animal s home. You may choose an animal for all of the students to use or you may allow students to choose their own animal. Compare the drawings, and talk as a class about what is the same and different about the drawings. Read Anne Mazer s Salamander Room as a class. Talk about any pets students in the class may have. What sorts of things do their pets need to be healthy and happy? Are those needs any different than the needs of an animal that lives outside? Are there any other questions Brian s mother should ask? Suggested Activities After Your Outreach/Discovery Lesson: Classroom Activities: Discuss the lesson with your students. What new ideas or information did they learn? Was anything confusing? What did they like best? Fill in the final column of the K-W-L chart. Play Habitat Grab! and learn how different animals find food, water, shelter and space in different habitats. See attached Everybody Needs a Home Activity: Habitat Grab! for directions and materials.

2 As a class, choose a habitat (pond, desert, forest, ocean, city, etc.). Then, allow each student to choose an animal that lives in that habitat. Turn the classroom into an ideal habitat. Decorate the walls with the appropriate food, water, shelter, and space so that each animal can live successfully in the habitat you have created. Talk about how some of the animals in your habitat might eat the other animals in the habitat. Discuss the interdependence of all of the animals and plants. Discuss how all habitats, even those with dramatically different inhabitants, have a similar food chain See attached Everybody Needs a Home Activity: Bears for an activity that allows students to examine how different species of bears adapt to different habitats. Homework Assignments: Try the Everybody Needs a Home Crossword (attached) and reinforce vocabulary concepts. Interdisciplinary Activities: Color the attached illustrations of animals from Wildlife of Pennsylvania ( Go to the Education link off the home page, then, the coloring book is under Wildlife for Kids ) Talk about the habitat in which each animal lives. Then, draw and color a picture of that habitat. Label the food, water, and shelter. Try the attached You can count on these cool habitats! for a counting activity that places different animals in their proper habitat. Writing/Drawing Prompts: My perfect habitat would have Some things that I can do to help save the rainforest are I am a (an animal of the student s choosing). Every day I Class Project Ideas: Write and perform a play that would show the rest of the school what you have learned about animal habitats. Choose one habitat and include different animals that live in that habitat. Be sure to show how those animals find food, water, shelter, and space in that habitat. Invite other classes to see your play and encourage them to ask questions about habitats after the performance. Get involved! As a class, take action and help save some of the amazing habitats all around the world. Talk about how sometimes space is the hardest thing for animals to find in their habitats. As a class, choose an endangered habitat. Then, agree on a way to raise money to donate to an environmental foundation. Some suggested foundations are The World Wildlife Fund ( and The Rainforest Alliance ( Resources for Students Under the Sea (The Ecossytems Xplorer) by Nicholas Harris Into the Rainforest (The Ecossytems Xplorer) Nicholas Harris Winter's Tale : An Original Pop-up Journey by Robert Sabuda Join Miss Frizzle and the Magic School Bus gang and play The Great Habitat Match-up at Eyewitness: Ocean by Miranda, MacQuitty, Frank Greenaway

3 Eyewitness: Desert by Miranda MacQuitty Eyewitness: Pond & River by Steve Parker Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium s website to play neat games and learn about a tide pool habitat and see how different fish find food in their habitats (and see some very cool video of the fish actually doing just that in the ocean!)- search under Activities, Games, and Music Jungle (Eyewitness Books) by Theresa Greenaway Eyewitness: Seashore by Steve Parker Check out Dragonfly TV for a look at how two kids just like you investigate how cheetahs find food in their African habitat - Click on Living Things and then Cheetahs The Magic School Bus Hops Home: A Book About Animal Habitats by Joanna Cole Additional Resources for Educators Visit for helpful info on creating your own backyard habitat For great information on different habitats around the world- complete with wonderful pictures and examples of some common questions about each habitat- go to Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv. This is a wonderful book for any educator who wants to bring nature back into the classroom. Janice Van Cleave s Animals: Mind-Boggling Experiments You Can Turn into Science Fair Projects- by Janice VanCleave (general animal resource) How Nature Works (How It Works) by David Burnie (general animal resource) A Dictionary of Nature: 2,000 Key Words Arranged Thematically by David Burnie (general animal resource) AAAS s Project 2061 Benchmarks 5. The Living Environment: Interdependence of Life 5. The Living Environment: The Evolution of Life Pennsylvania Academic Standards in Environment and Ecology New Jersey Standards A.1

4 Everybody Needs a Home Activity: Habitat Grab! Take a closer look at different habitats and explore how animals all over the world find food, water, shelter, and space! Before you play: This game works best with four players, and each group of four needs a copy of the Habitat cards and a copy of each of the Animal Card pages. It may be necessary to print the cards on heavy paper; that way, the images will not show through on the back of the cards. Cut out each of the four Habitat Cards. Then, cut out each of the Animal Cards. How to play: Habitat Grab! is similar to a memory card game. Each player is given a Habitat Card. That is her or his habitat, and that player must only collect animals that live in that habitat. Shuffle the Animal Cards and place them all face down on the playing surface. The first player then turns over two cards. If those two cards match and belong in that player s habitat, the player takes those two cards. This player then gets to choose two new cards until she or her can no longer find a match that belongs in her or his habitat. If they do not match or do not belong in the player s habitat, she or he does not take them and must turn them over in the same spot on the table. Play then moves to the left. Make sure every player sees each card that is turned over. How to win: The first player to gather 4 pairs of animals that belong in his or her habitat is the winner! After you play: As a class, discuss what each animal would eat in its environment. Figure out the water source that each animal would use in its habitat. Where does each animal go to find shelter and stay safe? Are there any space concerns in any of the habitat? Academy of Natural Sciences 2006

5 Macaw Rainforest Macaw Rainforest Iguana Rainforest Iguana Rainforest Tree Boa Rainforest Tree Boa Rainforest

6 Squirrel Monkey Rainforest Squirrel Monkey Rainforest Gila Monster Desert Gila Monster Desert Scorpion Desert Scorpion Desert

7 Hawk Desert Hawk Desert Pronghorn Desert Pronghorn Desert Rat City Rat City

8 Squirrel City Squirrel City Opossum City Opossum City Pigeon City Pigeon City

9 Seahorse Ocean Seahorse Ocean Clownfish Ocean Clownfish Ocean Sea Turtle Ocean Sea Turtle Ocean

10 Seal Ocean Seal Ocean HABITAT CARD Desert HABITAT CARD Rainforest HABITAT CARD Ocean HABITAT CARD City

11 Everybody Needs a Home Activities: Bears Build a habitat for two amazing species of bear and learn about the adaptations each has to survive in its habitat! This activity is designed to expose young students to the idea that animals are suited to finding food, water, shelter and space in their particular environments. It introduces students to the idea of adaptations and their role in helping an animal to survive in its habitat. o Ask the students to think about bears. Compile a list of facts and feelings about bears. Leave it very general at this point. Then, ask the students to think about where bears live. Ask them to make a list of the types of food, water, shelter, and space that a bear would need in its habitat. Take note of whether or not the students are focusing on one type of bear over another; for example, all of their answers seem to apply to only brown or black bears. o Now, introduce the students to the two species of bear that they will be examining: a polar bear and a black bear. Show pictures of the bears possibly from books and internet sources. Ask the students to compare and contrast the bears. Look at their fur, their teeth, their body shape, their feet, etc. o Now, talk about the habitats in which each animal lives. For older students, allow them to find each bear s food, water, shelter, and space needs from books or internet resources. For younger students, lead them in a discussion of all of the necessary aspects of a habitat. Compare the two lists: the adaptations and the habitat. Discuss as a class how each animal fits in its habitat. o Build a habitat for each of the bears. Divide the class into two groups. Give each group a large sheet or paper with the outline of either a polar bear or a black bear. To transfer an approximate life-sized outline of each of the bears to the large sheets of paper, transfer each of the attached outlines to transparency sheets. Tape the blank sheet of paper to a large empty wall or blackboard and move the overhead projector away from the sheet of paper until the line at each bear s left is the length of a yard stick. Then, trace the life-sized outline. (If space does not allow, make the bears an appropriate size.) o Then, allow the group to work together to add all the elements of the bear s habitat: food, water, shelter, and space. For example, they need to draw trees in a forest for the black bear or fish and seals for the polar bear. Make sure each group adds all the necessary elements. o Display the finished habitats and allow each group to present their work. Talk about how the adaptations of each of the bears help them to live in their particular habitat. Compare and contrast the habitats. (Adapted from What Bear Goes Where? found in Project Wild: K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide) Academy of Natural Sciences 2006

12 To transfer an approximate life-sized outline of each of the bears to the wall or to large sheets of paper, transfer the following outlines to transparency sheets. Tape the blank sheet of paper to a large empty wall or blackboard and move the overhead projector away from the sheet of paper or blank wall until the line at each of the bear s left is the length of a yard stick. Then, trace the life-sized outline. Black Bear The Academy of Natural Sciences 2006

13 To transfer an approximate life-sized outline of each of the bears to the wall or to large sheets of paper, transfer the following outlines to transparency sheets. Tape the blank sheet of paper to a large empty wall or blackboard and move the overhead projector away from the sheet of paper or blank wall until the line at each of the bear s left is the length of a yard stick. Then, trace the life-sized outline. Polar Bear Academy of Natural Sciences 2006

14 Name: You can count on these cool habitats! 1. the animals below that live in the ocean. 2. Underline the animals that live in the rainforest. 3. Put an X on the animals that live in the desert. Seahorse Hawk Tree Boa Macaw Gila Monster Sea Turtle Clownfish Iguana Please turn over!

15 4. Count the number of animals. animals 5. Count the number of animals that live in the ocean. animals 6. Count the number of animals that live in the rainforest. animals 7. Count the number of animals that live in the desert. animals Academy of Natural Sciences 2006

16 Everybody Needs a Home Word Box survive habitat shelter adaptation space Across 3. A parrot's strong, crushing beak is an that allows it to eat the hard nuts in its habitat. 4. Every animal needs food, water, shelter, and space to in its habitat. Down 1. An animal needs so it has a place where it feels safe in its habitat. 2. is another name for an animal's home. 4. All animals need in their habitats so they have plenty of room to do all of the things an animal needs to do! Created at Academy of Natural Sciences 2006

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